Power Rankings: Champs start '07 right where they left off

Prisco Power

Updated May 8

Did you ever think Peyton Manning could win a Super Bowl and not be much of a story the following spring?

Manning led the Indianapolis Colts to their first Super Bowl victory, getting the giant monkey off his back, and yet nobody is talking much about the Colts.

Peyton to The Prez: Can you play DB? (Getty Images)

It's the New England Patriots and all their moves.

It's the San Diego Chargers and their coaching changeover.

It's the Baltimore Ravens and their new runner, Willis McGahee.

It's the Denver Broncos and their offseason moves.

Oh, by the way, the Colts are the defending champions.

Yet all you hear about the Colts is how much they've lost this offseason. The skeptics say they've suffered too many hits.

The reality is they are a better team than they were a year ago, which is why they are atop the latest CBS SportsLine.com Power Rankings.

Is that lunacy?

Not really. The two corners, Jason David and Nick Harper, were just OK players who were covered up in their Cover-2 scheme. They will be easily replaced by Marlin Jackson and Tim Jennings or Kelvin Hayden, the player who had the fumble return for a touchdown in the Super Bowl.

No loss.

Weakside linebacker Cato June was a solid player, but if he was so good why didn't he get a multiyear deal from another team when he hit the market? Here's why? He's just OK.

That can be replaced.

As for the loss of backup running back Dominic Rhodes, that might be felt some but it should mean more carries for Joseph Addai, who is clearly a better runner. The Colts are considering bringing in a veteran backup, but as long as Addai is healthy they will be even better running the ball in 2007 than they were in 2006.

Then there's the addition of first-round pick Anthony Gonzalez. The Colts lacked a slot receiver last year when Brandon Stokley went down with an injury, which is why Gonzalez made sense. He will come in and immediately give Manning a speed threat inside.

In the playoff run they used Dallas Clark flexed wide in a lot of sets, but that won't be a necessity as much with Gonzalez.

So the offense should be better.

The defense might start off slow, but once the young corners get up to snuff that side will be fine, too.

That's why the Colts stay in the top spot in these Power Rankings. I considered moving the Patriots into the top spot, like everybody else has -- including Vegas linemakers -- but the thing that stopped me was I can't get the vision of 32 Colts second-half points in the title game out of my head.

Yes, the Patriots have added some nice offensive pieces and a couple of defensive additions that will help, but I still think there are flaws on that defense.

For that reason, the Colts come out of the draft as the team to beat.

After all, they are the Super Bowl champions.

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